New Beginning after The End
by The Wandering Swordsman
Summary: Happy birthday Luffy! After everything is achieved, does one yearn for it once more? Zoro thinks so. Vague mention of LuffyxZoro and FrankyxRobin.
**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece.**

 **A/N: Happy birthday Luffy~!**

The morning light gently filtered through the opaque curtains of a large bed, which belonged to a master swordsman and the King. Only one was snoring on this bed, his body occupying the whole mattress. He made a loud snore and rolled to the side, and finally realized that he was alone.

His only left eye cracked open to see the empty space and stared at it for a few moments. He let out a low curse because today he wanted to wake up before his partner. Grumbling irritably to himself, he groggily sat up and scratched at his shoulder length long green hair. On the right side of the hair, there was a short and thin braid. The King braided it one night, and the master swordsman kept it because the King told him it looked good on him. He shifted his body and stepped out of the bed. Right beside the bed, he picked up three of his precious swords.

The marble tiles were cold under his bare feet as he walked toward the bedroom door. He stopped to look around his surroundings slowly. The master bedroom was circular and the large bed was placed in the middle. Walls were decorated with ornate paintings of shells and ships in gold and pale red and green. One tall window was opened and a vast sea greeted him 'good morning.' There were twelve other rooms with a similar style, but without them in it all were vacant. The palace was—in the master swordsman's opinion—too grand for the both of them, but the King loved castles and weird things like this, so he did not argue.

He grabbed a long robe and threw it over his shoulder, for mornings on this lonely island were chilly. He hoped it would become warmer in the afternoon because today was special. He walked down the silent halls adorned with red tapestries and large paintings of familiar faces. He headed to the Grand Library because he knew the King was there.

Sure enough, the towering library door was slightly opened. When he walked in, there stood the King facing one part of the wall. This room also contained many enormous paintings; however, those who were dear and long gone. The King stood at the one of a man with short, wavy hair and spots of freckles painted in perfect detail. All of these paintings had them smiling, but this cloaked a grim happiness to it since they would never been seen smiling like this ever again.

Below his feet scattered many torn pieces of package paper. This was why the master swordsman wanted to wake up early because he knew the moment the King woke up his hands would be at those presents, but it was too late to save them now. At a large oak writing desk beside the King were piles of opened letters, all were birthday wishes to the great king.

He approached the King until he was right behind him, and then gently wrapped his arms around the other's shoulders.

"Good morning, Captain."

There was a delay, "Morning Zoro."

"Luffy."

"Hm?"

"Happy birthday."

There was another pause, and his voice was quieter, "Thanks."

Zoro rested the side of his head on the King's neck, "What's bothering you?"

"Do I sound bothered?"

"A little."

Soon, Luffy sighed and chuckled, "I can never lie to you. You can see through me like glass."

"Ten years does a lot."

"Yeah…ten years…" Luffy's voice grew distant, and Zoro raised his head. During the first five years, they have done so many things. They met and created a pirate crew, they went through many hellish adventures. In the end, Luffy achieved his wish to become the King of Pirates. Dracule Mihawk also stepped down his throne when Zoro finally defeated him. The mystery of the strange square stones Robin was after was also completed, so she looked like a schoolgirl who was praised for answering a difficult question.

Once their dreams were met, the others set forth to find their dreams too. Nami traveled around the world with Usopp and Chopper to complete her world map. Her maps were selling like wildfire because of the great detail and accuracy. Usopp achieved the 'greatest soldier in the world,' both physically and mentally. His strength was (almost) on par with Luffy, so he became Nami's bodyguard, if she needed help—which was seldom. Chopper went along with the two because he wanted to have more joyful and safe adventures. Apparently, Luffy's adventures were a bit too rough on the young reindeer.

Franky and Robin also went with their ways. Like them, they settled on a little island, where Franky could build and sell ships. Last news they received was that they were engaged and currently Franky was building a ship fit for a grand wedding. They were going to be invited, of course.

Brook reunited with Laboon and was living peacefully with Crocus, reminiscing the days when the Rumba Pirates were alive. Also, he invented new Skull Jokes and music to please his fans he had left years ago. He still had them, and his records and concert tickets were selling just as fast as Nami's.

Sanji left on his own to find All Blue. No clue whether or not he found it, but he promised that when he did, he would visit. Until then, he refrained from writing letters or calling on the Den Den Mushi. Unfortunately, they haven't heard from him in three years.

Since the others were having their own lives, Luffy and Zoro decided that every year they would celebrate their birthday on their own, and the others only needed to send them letters. The others agreed too because traveling around the Grand Line was not very efficient, and there were risks of people dying at sea. Luffy was greatly disappointed when Zoro brought up this, but after hours of convincing, he reluctantly agreed. Instead, on birthdays, they sailed out to drinking hubs on neighboring islands to absorb the partying atmosphere.

Over the years, Zoro noticed that his captain was quieting down. He thought it was because he was growing up, and maturity was finally creeping up on him. But it might be something more obvious. Zoro himself was calmer, and this was because of one reason: they achieved their goal so there was nothing to do. Their blood stopped boiling with adrenaline and excitement because there was nothing to stimulate it. Simply, Luffy was quiet because he was getting bored, and his silent demeanor was whining and groaning loudly like a hungry dog. Zoro chuckled to himself on how easy he could read Luffy's thoughts.

"Luffy," Zoro whispered in his ear, "Do you want to wreck havoc?"

When his sultry voice left his lips and the words slithered and worked its way into Luffy's brain, something in his engine geared up. Started from his feet, a great tremble shook and traveled up to the tip of his head. Zoro took a step back because Luffy suddenly whipped around to face him.

"I thought the government stopped us."

"When did you start listening to the marines? You're getting old, Luffy." The grin was slowly forming on Luffy's face, "Let's convince the Fleet Admiral to not attack us."

"Coby?" Luffy thought about it for a moment and soon his smile was wide and beaming.

"Yeah, we're just going to patrol around islands and see who's causing trouble, and we go and kick the bad guys' asses. Just like how we used to do back in the old days."

"Remember how when we always kick someone's ass, we always got a huge party!? Boy, I want to do something like that again!" Luffy hugged Zoro, "Can we? Can we do this today?"

"We could, after we eat your birthday cake."

"We can do it while we're sailing! Let's get Thousand Sunny out of the warehouse! I hate having to put her in there!" Luffy started to dance around but he stopped to ask another question, "Should we invite Nami and everyone?"

Zoro let a short sigh and shook his head, "Probably best not to. They have their own lives now, so I don't know if they have time to come along."

"Oh yeah…right…" Luffy raised his head and smiled, albeit it was smaller, "I'm so glad you stayed with me Zoro."

"Hey, our dreams were the easiest to get. They chose dreams that take too long." Zoro glanced at the clock on the wall, "Can you wait for a few minutes? I ordered a birthday cake, so it should arrive soon. Stay here alright?"

"Did you get it with all of my favorite flavors?"

"Yeah, and it's going to be hard to fit through this door," Zoro glanced back at the door that was five times taller than him. Luffy cheered, his spirits much higher than it was before. When Zoro closed the door behind him, he heard Luffy explaining his new adventure to his late brother.

As he walked down the silent hall, he was glad of his sudden decision to go out on an adventure with Luffy. They were cooped up in their thrones for too long, they needed something thrilling, something that they used to do so many years before. A smile crept across his face when he heard voices. There were more than one and they were ironically whispering loudly to each other to keep quiet.

"Shhh! He'll hear!"

"You keep quiet, Nami!"

"Shut up Usopp!"

"Fufu, if everyone keeps on talking, they will eventually find out."

"Nnnnnnmmmh, I'm super excited to see Luffy!"

"Yohohoho! I hope Luffy will love my new song! It's dedicated to him!"

"Look at this huge cake!"

Zoro chuckled. A month before, he messaged a letter to each of the crewmembers. It was their tenth anniversary of becoming the Straw Hat Pirates, so he thought this was the only exception to invite his friends. He had tried to message the cook, but he didn't know his whereabouts. Hopefully, the cook was smart enough to understand the importance of today. By the sounds of their voices, he was relieved everyone was the same.

Who knows…if Luffy brought up their second adventure…maybe they might all say 'yes'?

When his hand reached the door, the voices stopped and when he peeked through everyone let out a muffled cheer. The reunion were filled with hugs, squeezes and a surprising kiss on the cheek.

"Come inside, Luffy's in the Grand Library."

Nami nodded and gestured the others to follow her. Franky and Usopp were in charge of carrying the enormous cake, so their muscles rippled as they heaved the gigantic edible masterpiece off the ground. When they moved it out of the way, someone stood behind it. Zoro's eye widened, and everyone behind him pulled a sneaky smile.

Zoro's pounding heart calmed down, and he smirked. Luffy was going to be so pleased to hear that the last member of the Straw Hats finally achieved his dream.

"Feels like years to see your stupid mug, Cook."

 **The End**

 **A/N: Usually, I don't like writing these types of settings because it makes me really sad, but this felt appropriate for Luffy's birthday.**


End file.
